JP2003262531A - Navigation apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that confusion may result since the guidance of a second junction is guided just before a branch drive when the first and second junctions to be branched are close each other while driving a freeway along a guidance path. <P>SOLUTION: The navigation apparatus measures the distance between the first closest junction and the second closest junction in junctions to be branched where one branches a speedway for driving on a guidance path by a section 11 for measuring distance between the first and second close junctions to be branched. A junction guidance type selection section 13 to be branched abbreviates the guidance of a freeway that is branched from the first function for driving when the measurement result of the distance measurement section is within a specific distance, and guides a scheduled freeway to be driven by branching from the second junction. The conventional guidance is made in the case of a specific distance or longer. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a navigation device that guides a vehicle toward a destination, and more particularly to a navigation device that can provide easy-to-understand guidance when traveling on a highway or the like where junctions are complicated. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a navigation device, map data for drawing a map and a place name displayed on the map,
Alternatively, a map / information storage medium such as a DVD-ROM that records information data for searching facilities, a reproducing device that reads the data of the map information storage medium, a display device that displays a map and the like, a distance sensor, A self-contained navigation device such as a gyro and a vehicle position detection device for detecting the current position of the vehicle and the direction of the traveling direction by a GPS receiver or the like,
The map data including the current position of the vehicle is read from the map / information storage medium, the map image around the vehicle position is drawn on the screen of the display device based on this map data, and the vehicle position mark is superimposed on the display screen. Display and scroll the map image according to the movement of the vehicle, or fix the map image on the screen and move the vehicle position mark so that you can see at a glance where the vehicle is currently traveling. ing.

Further, the navigation device has a route guidance function for allowing a user to easily travel to a desired destination without making a mistake on the road. According to this route guidance function, if the destination and appropriate route points are set in advance as needed, the most cost to connect the destination points from the route point set as the vehicle position using the map information Automatically searches for a route with a low level, stores the route that was searched for as a guide route, and displays the guide route on the map image by changing the color of the other routes to a thick line and displaying it on the screen while driving. When you approach within a certain distance to the intersection where you should change the route on the guide route, the intersection is enlarged and displayed.
The user is guided to the destination by drawing an arrow or the like indicating the direction in which the course should be changed and displaying it on the screen, or by performing a voice guidance for turning left or right.

[0004] In guiding such a guide route, in addition to the above-mentioned guidance of right and left turn intersections of general roads, highways and motorways, and highways in other countries,
When driving on freeways, etc. (hereinafter collectively referred to as "highways"), guide the exits of highways, guidance on junctions at junctions, merging guidance, toll guidance before toll gates, and general roads after exits We provide detailed guidance, such as directions.

In particular, the guidance in the branching direction at the junction needs to be provided so that the driver can make an accurate judgment when the vehicle is traveling at a high speed. You can't go back immediately and you will suffer a big loss in terms of mileage, travel time and fare. Also,
Since the vehicle is traveling at a high speed, an accident is likely to occur, and it is preferable that the driver deal with the route change and the like in this case. Therefore, when traveling along the guideway along the expressway, it is extremely important to guide the guideway especially at the junction, but especially on the expressway in the center of the city, the junction is complicated and the unfamiliar driver can drive in the traveling direction. It is easy to make mistakes and accidents.

For example, as shown in FIG. 5 (a), a vehicle passes through a point P1 on the inner side of the inner-city loop line [C1] along the guidance route indicated by the thick line in the figure, and along the Fukagawa line [9] in the figure, Urayasu. When traveling in the direction, first change the road at Edobashi Junction (J) to the Mukaijima Line [6], then at the Hakozaki Junction (J) to change to the Fukagawa Line [9]. As shown in Fig. 5 (b), there is only 800m from Edobashi Junction to Hakozaki Junction. Therefore, the driver at Edobashi Junction is Mukaijima Line [6]
After changing to a branch, drive while paying attention to vehicles that join from other routes, and while paying attention to the curve, it will soon reach Hakozaki Junction.

In such a traveling route, as shown in FIG.
At point P1 of, a guide sign as shown in, for example, FIG. 6A is displayed, and a general driver will drive while checking this display. According to this display, highway No. 6 and highway 7 heading for Urayasu and Komatsugawa for the first time.
Vehicles going to Route 9 and Highway 9 branch to the right side, and vehicles going straight here are at the same junction towards Highway 1 towards Ueno, Highway 4 towards Kita-Ikebukuro and Shinjuku, and highway. It can be seen that the road further branches in the direction of Route 5. The driver, who understands the guide sign, can branch into the right direction and drive.

[0008] Next, the vehicle that has branched from the Edobashi junction to the right side as described above and traveled in the direction of Hakozaki Junction while merging with the vehicle traveling from the direction of Kita-Ikebukuro or Shinjuku within this junction. Will proceed. This Hakozaki Junction is only 800m from Edobashi Junction, especially 7 from the confluence.
There is only about 50m. Therefore, shortly after passing the confluence point, the guide sign as shown in FIG. 6 (b), which is installed 500 m before Hakozaki Junction, will be seen in front.

In this guide sign, there is a branch road 500m ahead, the right direction is Urayasu direction, and proceed on the highway No. 9 [9], then the Wangan Line [B] direction, and the left direction is Mukaijima direction and Komatsugawa. In the direction of Highway No. 6 [6], Highway 7
It is shown to proceed in the direction of the road [7] and the central ring line [C2]. Therefore, the general driver as described above will proceed to the right at the next junction according to this guide sign.

On the other hand, when the vehicle is equipped with a navigation device and the driver is traveling with reference to the guidance screen and voice guidance, the screen of the navigation device initially shows a screen as shown in FIG. 7 (a). It is displayed. That is, in this example, the map is displayed mainly on the expressway on the entire screen, and the user refers to such a display, and the Edobashi junction exists ahead of this, and the thick line display on the map screen is displayed. It is possible to know in advance that the planned travel route will proceed to the right here.

When a predetermined distance is reached from a junction planned to branch and travel during such traveling, a junction traveling guide screen is automatically displayed as shown in FIG. In the example, the enlarged driving guide screen of Edobashi Junction is displayed on the right half of the screen, and the screen showing the actual state of the expressway is displayed on the left half of the screen. On the other hand, from the navigation device, in addition to the voice guidance such as "I am going to the right", the guidance such as "To Mukaijima" or "Highway Route 6" is added as necessary. In addition, such guide screen display and voice guidance are normally performed a plurality of times at a predetermined distance before the junction.

In the above example, the Hakozaki junction, which is scheduled to branch and run immediately after passing the Edobashi junction, is displayed by the guidance screen display and the voice guidance as described above. The guidance screen at that time is
First, for example, as shown in FIG. 8 (a), for example, FIG. 8 (b) for performing junction travel guidance from a state in which one screen for mainly guiding a highway is displayed or shortly after this screen is displayed. Such a two-screen display is performed, and this screen informs that the driver will branch rightward at the next Hakozaki Junction. In addition, in the voice guidance, in addition to the voice guidance of "I am going to the right"
Add the guidance "Urayasu direction" or "Highway line 9".

[0013]

As described above, when a junction existing in the direction of the traveling route and planned to travel by branching is present in the vicinity of a highway, the vehicle first branches and travels. Immediately after passing through the first planned junction to be branched, the guidance screen display and voice guidance of the next second planned junction are performed. Moreover, while usually providing guidance multiple times at a predetermined distance in front of the junction, when there is only 800 meters away from the Edobashi junction, such as the Hakozaki junction, the voice guidance is 1
Only once.

Therefore, if the driver misses this guidance screen display or misses the voice guidance, he / she may not be able to branch at this junction and may proceed, and the risk of causing an accident due to a sudden branch response. There is also. Especially at junctions, many vehicle interruptions occur,
If the person is distracted, he or she often misses the above-mentioned guidance, and the risk of contact with other vehicles increases. Note that the above-mentioned problems occur not only in Japanese roads as described above but also in other countries such as the United States.

Therefore, the present invention makes it possible to guide the traveling direction in an easy-to-understand manner when traveling on an expressway in which the junctions planned to be branched and run are close to each other. The main purpose is to provide a navigation device that enables traveling.

[0016]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a navigation device according to the present invention has a first junction which is the closest among the junctions planned to branch on an expressway and travel. A distance measuring unit that measures a distance to the second closest junction is provided, and when the measurement result of the distance measuring unit is within a predetermined distance, the first junction is used when guiding the guide route at the first junction. The guideway for the expressway that is planned to branch off from the road is omitted and the guideway for the expressway that is planned to branch off from the second junction is provided.

Further, in another navigation device according to the present invention, when the highway is guided, the highway number,
At least one of the name of a highway and a representative place name existing on the highway is used.

Further, another navigation device according to the present invention is such that, at the time of guiding the expressway, at least voice guidance is provided.

In addition, another navigation device according to the present invention is such that, in addition to voice guidance, guidance is also provided on the screen when the highway is guided.

Further, another navigation device according to the present invention is a proximity first branch scheduled junction detection unit for detecting a junction of an expressway closest to the present position along the guide route, and a current position along the guide route. From 2
Between the adjacent second branch scheduled junction detection unit that detects the next adjacent highway junction, and the junction that measures the distance between the adjacent first branched scheduled junction and the adjacent second branched scheduled junction detected by each of the detection units The distance measurement unit and a junction planned junction guidance system selection unit that changes the guidance system depending on whether the result measured by the inter-junction distance measurement unit is a predetermined distance or more, and the planned junction guidance system selection unit. When the measurement result of the inter-junction distance measuring unit is within a predetermined distance, at the time of guiding the guidance route at the adjacent first branch scheduled junction, guide the highway which is planned to branch off from the adjacent first branch scheduled junction. Omit it and branch off from the second planned junction to drive. It is obtained to carry out the guidance of the constant of the high-speed road.

[0021]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a functional block diagram for providing guidance during highway traveling according to the present invention in a navigation device. In this embodiment, a current position using a GPS receiver 1 or the like conventionally used in a navigation device is used. A map data reading unit 6 for reading map data recorded on a map data recording medium 5 such as a DVD-ROM is provided, and further, setting data for a destination / route point setting unit and a current position detecting unit 2 are provided. A guide route setting unit 8 for calculating an appropriate guide route based on the current position data, link cost data from the map data reading unit 6, and the like.

This device is provided with a proximity first branch scheduled junction detection unit 3, and present position data of the present position detection unit 2, guidance route data of a guidance route setting unit 8 and data of a map data reading unit 6. Select the junction planned to branch from the current expressway route out of the branch junctions existing on the guidance route, and select the closest junction from the current position. The first branch scheduled junction is detected, and its position data and the like are fetched from the map data reading unit 6.

Incidentally, a junction in a highway refers to a portion where a plurality of lines merge or branch, but a branch junction refers to a junction in which at least one branch exists, and in the present invention, among the branch junctions. The junction at which the vehicle is scheduled to travel by branching off the branch junction is called the junction to be branched.

Further, a similar near second branch scheduled junction detection unit 4 is provided, a branch scheduled junction next to the current position next to the first branch junction is detected based on the same data, and the position data and the like are described above. Similarly, it is taken in from the map data reading unit 6. Therefore, the junction data detected by the first planned junction detection unit 3 and the junction data detected by the second planned junction detection unit 4 are updated each time they pass through the planned junction.

The current position / proximity first branch scheduled junction distance measuring unit 10 detects the current position data from the current position detection unit 2 and the proximity first branch scheduled junction detection unit 3 from the proximity first branch scheduled junction detection unit 3. From the position data, etc., the distance from the current position to the first planned junction is measured. Further, the distance measurement unit 11 between the adjacent first and second branch planned junctions is also similar to the above-mentioned first proximity branch.
The distance from the adjacent first branched planned junction to the adjacent second branched planned junction is measured based on the position data of the planned branched junction, the position data of the proximal second branched planned junction from the adjacent second branched planned junction detection unit 4, and the like. .

Branch planned junction guidance system selection unit 1
3 is performed by determining whether or not the distance between the close first planned branch junction and the close second planned branch junction is shorter than a predetermined distance, such as 1 km, stored in advance in the guidance method selection reference distance storage unit 12. When it is short, as will be described later, the guidance regarding the route of the highway branching from the adjacent first branch planned junction is omitted, and the guidance regarding the route of the highway branching from the next adjacent second branch planned junction is selected. To do. When the distance is longer than the predetermined distance, selection is made to perform guidance regarding the route of the expressway branching from the adjacent first branch scheduled junction, as in the conventional guidance.

Junction guidance output unit 1 for near branch
4, the current position from the current position / proximity first branch scheduled junction-to-junction distance measuring unit 10 is
When it is detected that the distance is within a predetermined distance based on the distance data to the branch planned junction, the guidance system selected as described above from the branch planned junction guidance system selection unit 13 at that time Follow the instructions. At this time, for example, when the distance between the adjacent first branch planned junction and the adjacent second branch planned junction is longer than a predetermined distance, the branch is performed from the adjacent first branched planned junction detected by the adjacent first branched planned junction detection unit 13. The data on the route of the expressway to be traveled is taken in and the guidance on the route is given.

When the distance between the adjacent first branch planned junction and the adjacent second branch planned junction is shorter than a predetermined distance, the adjacent second planned branch junction detection unit 1
The data related to the route of the expressway which branches off from the adjacent second branch scheduled junction detected by 4 and travels is fetched, and guidance regarding the route is performed. These guides are output as voice guides from the speaker by the voice guide output unit 15, and the monitor screen 1 is output by the guide screen output unit 17.
Display on 8. Note that among these outputs, the junction guidance is a state where the driver pays particular attention to driving, so it is preferable to perform the above operation especially for the voice guidance, but when performing the voice guidance as described above, The guide screen may be a conventional method.

The navigation device according to the present invention having the above-mentioned functional blocks performs guidance output processing of a planned junction of a highway according to the operation flow shown in FIG. 2, for example. That is, first, the current position is detected (step S1), and then the first branch scheduled junction closest to the current position on the guide route is detected (step S2).

As a result, when it is determined that there is no junction to be branched ahead of the current position, it is not necessary to perform the subsequent operation flow, and the process is terminated (step S11). Even if there are a plurality of planned junctions at the beginning, they are processed in order according to the operation flow described later, and as a result, there are no planned junctions to reach the destination on the guidance route. Sometimes, the operation flow ends due to this determination.

When it is determined in step S3 that the first planned branch junction is present, the second planned branch junction next to the first planned branch junction is detected (step S4). After that, it is determined whether or not the second planned branch junction is present (step S5), and when it is present, the distance between the adjacent first planned branch junction and the neighboring second planned branch junction is measured (step S6). This measurement can be obtained, for example, by summing the positions of the respective branch junctions recorded in the map data storage medium and the distance data at the link of the road along the guide route between the positions.

Then, it is determined whether or not the current position is within the first predetermined distance to the adjacent first branch planned junction (step S7). If it is determined in step S5 that the second planned junction is not present, step S6 is not performed and step S7 is performed. This first predetermined distance can be set arbitrarily, but for example 700 m is selected. As a result of this determination, when it is determined that the distance is not within the first predetermined distance, the process returns to step S1 and the operation is repeated from the new detection of the current position.
Since the processing of 2 to step S6 is exactly the same processing, the processing when returning to step S1 as described above may not be performed, and the processing may immediately proceed to step S7.

As a result of the determination in step S7, the first
When it is determined that the distance is within the predetermined distance of, it is determined whether or not the measured distance between the first planned close junction and the second planned close junction is within the second predetermined distance (step S8). This second predetermined distance can also be set arbitrarily, but for example, 1 km or 1.5 km, and in the United States, 1 mile is selected.

As a result of the determination in step S8, when it is determined that the distance between the adjacent first branched planned junction and the adjacent second branched planned junction is within the second predetermined distance, the adjacent second branched planned junction is close. Since it is located very close to the 1st branch planned junction, if you guide the route of the expressway that is supposed to branch off from the 1st branch planned junction, you will branch from here at the 2nd planned branch junction. Since there is a high possibility that the guide for the expressway route that is supposed to be traveled by the train may not be accurately transmitted to the user, in the guidance before the adjacent first branch planned junction, branch from the adjacent second branch planned junction. The route of the expressway that is supposed to run is guided (step S9).

Further, in the determination in step S8,
When it is determined that the distance between the close first planned branch junction and the close second planned branch junction is not within the second predetermined distance, that is, first, in step S5, it is determined that the second planned branch junction does not exist. As a result, when the process proceeds to step S7, secondly, the adjacent second planned branching junction is present on the guide route, but when the second predetermined distance or more is separated from the first nearby planned branching junction, the adjacent first branch is planned. Outputs guidance on the expressway that branches off from the planned junction. This guidance output is output as voice guidance from the speaker 16 by the voice guidance output unit 15 shown in FIG.
The guide screen output unit 17 also displays the information on the monitor 18.

After completion of the guidance in step S9 and after completion of the guidance in step S10, the process returns to step S1 and the above operation is repeated. In that case, the first branch scheduled junction closest to the current position in step S2 is detected as the proximity first branched scheduled junction when the proximity second branched scheduled junction exists in the previous operation processing. And the junction is updated in the same manner thereafter, and when it is determined in step S3 that the first planned junction is not present,
This operation flow ends (step S11).

As a result of the guidance output process, in the example shown in FIG. 5, the distance is within 700 m from the Edobashi junction, which is the adjacent first branch planned junction, on the front side of point P1 on the inner-city loop line [C1]. When
At this point, the navigation device gives a guidance such as "Highway Route 9" following the voice guidance "This is the right in the future." At this time, the user refers to the instruction to the Urayasu direction of highway No. 9 at Edobashi Junction displayed on the navigation device as shown in Fig. 3 (a), and installs it above the road. , For example in FIG.
By looking at the road sign as shown in (b), it can be seen that at the junction that will be branched from here, it is sufficient to proceed to the right, and at that time, head for highway No. 9.

After that, when passing the Edobashi junction, the navigation device returns to step S1 in the operation flow again, and performs the same operation as above from the detection of the current position, and at that time, branches from the Hakozaki junction at least in step S8. When it is determined that the junction to be branched that exists after that does not exist within the second predetermined distance, immediately follow the branch guidance at the next Hakozaki Junction, for example, following the voice guidance "This is the right direction ahead." Expressway No. 9 ”. At this time, the driver confirms that the highway No. 9 is in the right direction by looking at the road signs as shown in FIG. 6 (b), and if necessary, as shown in FIG. 8 (b), for example. By referring to the screen display of the junction guidance of the conventional navigation device, it is possible to reliably travel along the guide route.

On the other hand, for example, on the map shown in FIG.
When the guidance route is set to go from Edobashi junction to Ryogoku junction and then to Komatsugawa line, which is highway No. 7, as shown in Fig. 5 (b), Edobashi as a nearby first branch planned junction Since there is 2.1 km from the junction to the Ryogoku junction as the next adjacent second branch planned junction, 1 km or 1.5 as the second predetermined distance.
Since it is farther than km and it is enough to guide the Ryogoku Junction after passing the Edobashi Junction, the guidance in front of the Edobashi Junction is as shown in step S10 based on the result of the determination in step S8. It will guide you to the Mukaijima line of Expressway No. 6, which is a highway that branches off from the first junction planned to branch.

Then, for example, in front of the road sign installation position P3 in FIG. 5 (a), "This is the right direction ahead."
Follow the same guidance as before, such as "Highway Line 7." At this time, the driver can easily drive on the road by seeing the road sign as shown in FIG. 6C or by referring to the junction guidance screen of the navigation device similar to the above.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the Japanese highway is explained. However, it is not limited to Japan that the voice guidance of the navigation device is not properly performed due to the intricate junction of the highway not only in Japan but also in other countries. There is a similar problem in the freeway of Los Angeles as shown in FIG. 4, for example. In the US, in addition to "freeways", which are free of charge, there are some "turnpike" and "expressways" that are paid, and are generally referred to as "highways" and correspond to Japanese highways. There are various expressways and motorways such as "Interstate Highway", "Federal Highway" that corresponds to Japan's national highways, and "State Highway" that corresponds to Japanese national highways. Therefore, these are collectively referred to as "freeways".

In the example shown in FIG. 4, in the freeway as shown in the enlarged views of FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b), when the route 10 is currently traveling, the guide route is the route 5 at the junction J1. An example is shown in which the vehicle is branched to and then further branched to Route 60 at junction J2. At this time, Junction J
The distance between 1 and junction J2 is only 0.7 miles as shown in FIG.

Therefore, according to the guidance of the conventional navigation device, the driver "In 1mile Take 5 freeway" at the position shown in FIG. 4 (a), for example.
Follow the voice guidance saying that you will proceed to Route 5 one mile ahead, and proceed to Junction J as shown in (a) and (b) of the same figure.
Immediately after proceeding to Route 5 as instructed in 1, take 6
The voice guidance “0 freeway” to the effect that you will proceed to Route 60 will be given, and the driver will be forced to take immediate action. In addition, for example, “In 1mile Take5 f
reeway, then take 60 free
"Ay", proceed one mile to Route 5, then 60
It is possible to give voice guidance to proceed to the line, but the driver may not know the content of the guidance after listening to this because multiple freeway numbers are uttered, or which number is said first. It causes confusion such as not knowing.

In the present invention, in such a situation, for example, when the second predetermined distance in step S8 of FIG. 2 is set to 1 mile, the distance between the junction J1 and the junction J2 is shown in FIG. 4 (c). 0.7 as shown
Since it is a mile and is shorter than the second predetermined distance, the junction J as the adjacent second branch planned junction
We will guide you on Route 60, which branches off from 2. Therefore, at the vehicle position shown in FIG.
"Eway", a voice guidance to the effect that you will proceed to Route 60 is given, and the same screen display as described above is performed if necessary.

[0045]

As described above, the navigation device according to the present invention provides a connection between the nearest first junction and the second nearest junction among the planned junctions which are planned to branch on the expressway and travel. A distance measuring unit for measuring a distance is provided, and when the measurement result of the distance measuring unit is within a predetermined distance, when guiding the guidance route at the first junction, the highway is planned to branch off from the first junction and travel. No guidance, second
Since it is designed to guide the highway that is planned to branch off from the junction, it is possible to easily guide the driving direction when traveling on the highway where the junctions planned to branch off and run are close to each other. It is possible to drive safely and safely on the highway.

Further, in another navigation device according to the present invention, when guiding the highway, the number of the highway,
Since the name of the highway or at least one of the representative place names existing on the highway is used, the driver can easily associate the highway to be branched and drive with the road sign. Can be grasped.

Further, in another navigation device according to the present invention, at least a voice guidance is provided when guiding the highway, so that the vehicle is traveling at a high speed and at a junction where there are many interruptions of vehicles into the lane. ,
Even while paying attention to driving, it is possible to easily receive driving guidance for a nearby junction.

Further, since the other navigation device according to the present invention is configured to perform the guidance on the expressway on the screen as well, it is possible to perform the guidance on the screen in addition to the voice guidance, and the driver can give a voice. Even if you miss the guidance, you can surely know it by looking at the screen display.

Further, another navigation device according to the present invention includes a proximity first branch scheduled junction detection unit for detecting a junction of an expressway closest to the present position along the guide route, and a current position along the guide route. From 2
Between the adjacent second branch scheduled junction detection unit that detects the next adjacent highway junction, and the junction that measures the distance between the adjacent first branched scheduled junction and the adjacent second branched scheduled junction detected by each of the detection units The distance measurement unit and a junction planned junction guidance system selection unit that changes the guidance system depending on whether the result measured by the inter-junction distance measurement unit is a predetermined distance or more, and the planned junction guidance system selection unit. When the measurement result of the inter-junction distance measuring unit is within a predetermined distance, at the time of guiding the guidance route at the adjacent first branch scheduled junction, guide the highway which is planned to branch off from the adjacent first branch scheduled junction. Omit it and branch off from the second planned junction to drive. Since it is designed to guide the fixed highway, it is possible to guide the traveling direction in an easy-to-understand manner when driving on a highway where the junctions that are planned to branch and run are close to each other. In addition, it is possible to drive safely and to reliably perform the guidance output process.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an operation flow chart of the embodiment.

FIG. 3A is a diagram showing an example of a driving guide screen in the same embodiment, and FIG. 3B is a diagram showing an example of road signs displayed on the road when the display screen is output. .

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example in which the present invention is applied to guiding freeways in Los Angeles, (a) is a diagram showing a wide-range map of freeways, and (b) is a part thereof. It is an enlarged view of the area of, and (c) is a figure which shows the distance between the planned traveling junctions.

5A is a diagram showing an example of a highway network centered on a guide route, and FIG. 5B is a diagram showing an example of a distance between junctions of a highway.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing various examples of highway road signs.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a conventional highway junction guidance screen.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing another example of a conventional highway junction guidance screen.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 GPS receiver 2 Current position detection unit 3 Proximity first branch planned junction detection unit 4 Proximity second branch planned junction detection unit 5 Map data recording medium 6 Map data reading unit 7 Destination / route destination setting unit 8 Guidance route setting unit 10 Current position / proximity first junction planned junction distance measurement unit 11 Proximity first / second intended junction distance measurement unit 12 Guidance method selection reference distance storage unit 13 Tributary junction guidance method selection unit 14 Proximity junction planned junction guidance Output unit 15 Voice guidance output unit 16 Speaker 17 Guidance screen output unit 18 Monitor

Continued front page    F-term (reference) 2C032 HB22 HC08 HC31 HD03 HD07                       HD11                 2F029 AA02 AB07 AB13 AC02 AC09                       AC14 AC18                 5H180 AA01 BB13 CC12 FF05 FF23                       FF25 FF27 FF35 FF38

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A distance measuring unit for measuring a distance between a nearest first junction and a second nearest junction among the planned junctions which are planned to travel on a highway along the guide route. When the measurement result of the distance measuring unit is within a predetermined distance, when guiding the guidance route at the first junction, the guidance of the highway that is planned to branch off from the first junction is omitted, and the second junction is provided. A navigation device, which guides a highway that is planned to be branched from a car. 2. The highway guide is at least one of a highway number, a highway name, and a representative place name existing on the highway. Navigation device. 3. The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the highway guidance is at least voice guidance. 4. The navigation device according to claim 3, wherein the highway guidance is also performed on a screen. 5. A proximate first branch scheduled junction detection unit for detecting a junction of a freeway closest to the present position along the guide route, and a junction of the expressway second closest to the present position along the guide route. An inter-junction distance measuring unit that detects a distance between the adjacent first branch planned junction and the adjacent second branch planned junction that are detected by each of the detection units; A branch planned junction guidance system selection unit that changes the guidance system depending on whether or not the result measured by the distance measurement unit is a predetermined distance or more, and the planned branch junction guidance system selection unit is one of the inter-junction distance measurement units. When the measurement result is within a predetermined distance, the adjacent first branch planned junk When guiding the guidance route in the route, omit the guidance of the expressway that is planned to branch off from the first planned junction for the nearby branch, and guide the highway that is planned to branch off from the second planned junction for the adjacent branch. Navigation device.